On an average weekday in 2023, 132,946 vehicles crossed the I-5 Interstate Bridge between Vancouver and Portland. None of them paid a toll. That's expected to change in summer 2028, the start date the bistate tolling group is currently planning around. For someone writing an offer on a Vancouver home this winter, the toll will probably start within the first couple of years of ownership.
The timing is the awkward part. You'll commit to a house, and to a commute, before anyone knows the price of that commute. The final toll rates won't be proposed until late summer 2027. Until then, the most you can plan with is a range.
The Price Arrives After the Purchase
The Washington and Oregon transportation commissions are moving through the rate-setting steps in this order, according to the October 16, 2026 Bi-State Tolling Subcommittee presentation:
- November 20, 2026: The subcommittee's workplan shows its final guidance going to both commissions at this meeting, the day after this post publishes.
- February 2027: The Oregon and Washington commissions meet jointly to direct public engagement and take up discounts, exemptions and rate structure.
- Late spring to early summer 2027: The commissions release toll rate and policy scenarios for public input.
- Late summer 2027: The commissions issue their toll rate and policy proposal.
- Summer 2028: This is the assumed start of tolling on the existing bridge. At an August 2026 meeting, a commissioner told the public that an earlier start is "unlikely but possible."
The new bridge comes well after the tolls start. The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program expects to pick a contractor in 2027 and start building the replacement bridge in 2028. Construction is expected to take six to seven years. WSDOT posted its request for qualifications for the Columbia River Bridge Replacement contract on August 17, 2026, and the submitters list went up October 6. So for years, drivers will pay a toll to cross the old bridge while the new one is built next to it.
What the Commissions Are Weighing Right Now
As of October 2026, the subcommittee has narrowed its focus to three scenarios. All of them are preliminary, and the figures are in 2026 dollars.
| Scenario | Before the new bridge opens | After it opens | Time-of-day steps | Low-income discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scenario 2 | $1.55 to $3.65 | $1.65 to $3.90 | Three: minimum, midday, peak | 50%, starting when the new bridge opens |
| Modified Scenario 2 | $1.55 to $3.65 | $1.65 to $3.90 | Three: minimum, midday, peak | 50%, as soon as practical |
| Scenario 3 | $1.65 to $3.90 | $1.65 to $3.90 | Two: minimum, midday | 50%, as soon as practical |
Every scenario raises the toll by 2.15% a year. Every scenario also assumes the bridge is toll-free from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. until the new bridge is finished. A June 2026 financial analysis also assumed a $0.25 fee for each Pay by Plate trip, and that's a study assumption, not an adopted rate.
The math below is an illustration, not a quote. Suppose you crossed at the top of the pre-completion range both ways, five days a week. That's about $36.50 a week, or roughly $1,800 over a 50-week working year, in 2026 dollars and before the annual increase. A hybrid schedule cuts that in proportion. A commute that misses the peak window costs less, and one that crosses overnight would be free under the current assumptions. This is general information, not financial advice, so check the adopted rates and your own budget with your lender before counting on any figure.
That's real money for a household, and what it costs depends on one particular trip at one particular time of day.
Why the Free Bridge Isn't an Easy Way Around It
The obvious answer is to buy near I-205 and use the Glenn Jackson Bridge. That bridge isn't tolled. According to the August 2026 subcommittee meeting summary, members discussed Washington state law and federal guidance that prohibit tolling it and said more study would be needed to explore any change. Oregon's own plan for I-205 tolls is also off the table. ODOT's I-205 project site says the regional toll program stopped in March 2024 at the direction of the governor and the Oregon Transportation Commission.
The program's corridor traffic analysis expects diversion to the I-205 bridge to be "relatively small, and primarily in the off-peak direction of peak travel periods." In plain terms, most drivers headed toward Portland at rush hour are expected to keep using I-5 and pay. The analysis expects more switching from people traveling against the main flow of traffic, the trips that already move more freely.
The reason is how the two bridges line up with where people live and work. A detour is only worth it if the time it costs is worth less than the toll it saves. For someone driving at peak hours from the west side of Vancouver to a job near central Portland, swinging over to I-205 adds miles to a road that's also busy at peak hours. The traffic analysis expects most of those drivers to decide the toll costs less than the detour.
Some commissioners aren't fully convinced. At the same meeting, one commissioner raised concerns about traffic spilling onto Portland streets and I-205 during construction. Another said the models can't predict for certain what drivers will do and suggested an aggressive monitoring program to compare actual traffic against the forecasts. The official expectation is still that the free bridge stays a choice for some people, not a way out for everyone.
The Toll Attaches to a Home-and-Job Pair
If most peak drivers stay on I-5 and pay, a neighborhood alone doesn't tell you what the toll will cost you. The pair does, meaning where you live and where you work. Two households on the same Vancouver street could feel the toll very differently. One commutes to a job across the river five days a week. The other works in Clark County or crosses mostly at off-peak hours.
The group the toll touches is large. The Regional Transportation Council's Clark County demographic profile, published in May 2026, counted at least 61,243 Clark County residents working in Multnomah, Washington or Clackamas counties in 2023. Multnomah County accounted for 44,489 of them. Not all of them cross on I-5, and not all of them cross every day. Still, a large share of the county has a job on the Oregon side.
For a buyer comparing neighborhoods, that suggests a more useful question than which part of Vancouver is near the free bridge. Ask which crossing your actual job and schedule will push you onto, and at what time of day. If the answer is I-5 at peak hours, treat the toll as a recurring household cost, the same way you'd treat a utility bill or HOA dues, and include it when you compare homes.
The Transit Option Is Still Changing
Transit is the usual fallback when a drive gets expensive, and it's still moving too. The subcommittee's October 2026 preliminary guidance lists, under Washington law, no toll exemption for transit buses, rideshare vehicles or vanpools. C-TRAN's express routes include Route 164, the Fisher's Landing Express, and Route 190, the Marquam Hill Express. How tolling will affect those routes hasn't been settled.
Light rail is less certain than the bridge itself. The program's environmental documents describe a 1.9-mile MAX Yellow Line extension with stations at Hayden Island, downtown Vancouver/Waterfront, and near Evergreen Boulevard. In April 2026, OPB reported on a phased proposal that would end the line where the new bridge reaches the Vancouver waterfront instead of continuing about half a mile to a planned transit center near the downtown library. The Vancouver City Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the change. OPB also reported that the cost estimate for the full five-mile corridor had jumped from $6 billion to $14.4 billion. The program said in a statement that "while the timeframe of delivery has changed, our commitment to bringing those investments forward has not."
For buyers looking around downtown Vancouver specifically, that means the toll is coming on a set schedule. The rail connection that might give you another way across the river doesn't have a confirmed endpoint or date yet.
A Few Common Questions
Will the toll be charged on the current bridge or only the new one? On the current bridge. The rate scenarios include a "pre-completion" range that applies while the replacement is being built.
When will the actual rates be known? The commissions plan to release scenarios for public input in late spring or early summer 2027 and issue a toll rate and policy proposal in late summer 2027.
Is there a discount for lower-income drivers? All three scenarios include a 50% low-income discount. The scenarios differ on whether it starts when tolling begins or when the new bridge opens.
If the commute is part of how you're deciding between homes, Joy Johnson can help you compare specific addresses against your actual route and schedule. That way you can include the toll in your budget before you write an offer, not after you get the keys. And if you're planning to sell, an instant home valuation is an easy first step.
